The mart trade has received an injection of competition from buyers sourcing lambs for live export.
Kilkenny Mart auctioneer George Candler reported on a sharp trade on Monday, with prices hitting a high of €190 for a batch of five super-quality lambs weighing 60kg.
Prices ranging from €177 to €182 were paid for good-quality lambs weighing from 50kg to 54kg, while fleshed, good-quality lambs weighing from 44kg to 46kg averaged around the €160 mark.
The trade in Athenry Mart was also significantly sharper than the previous week. Buyers purchasing lambs for export were hungry for suitable lambs, with this reflected in a pen of 45.5kg ram lambs with tails which sold for €179 each.
General prices
The general run of prices for suitable lambs weighing from 48kg upwards ranged from €170 to €178, with a selection of lambs selling as high as the mid-€180s.
Demand was such that ram lambs weighing 42kg to 44kg topped the €170 mark.
Equivalent-weight ewe lambs sold from €155 to €160 in many cases, showing the power of the higher levels of competition.
Factory trade
The factory trade has firmed by 5c/kg to 10c/kg on last week, but all the talk over the weekend and on Monday has been the prices paid in mart sales.
Kildare Chilling tops the reported quotes, with its base of €7.70/kg plus 10c/kg quality assurance bonus.
Other plants are quoting a base price ranging from €7.40/kg to €7.50/kg, with some plants guaranteeing a 10c/kg higher base for groups to try to entice numbers forward.
This is witnessing a differential in prices paid, with returns ranging from €7.60/kg to €7.90/kg, with deals at the top end of the market rising in cases to €8/kg.
Reports indicate that there are more sellers considering the best sales outlet for the type of lamb on hand.
The increase in live export activity is stemming from the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha, which takes place from 28 June to 2 July.
The religious festival has underpinned the highest weekly kill in recent years, with market signals looking positive ahead of this year’s trade.